Network Vision/LTE - New York City Market

[T-MoblieUser207]

19 hours ago, wispiANt said:

It seems T-Mobile is finally addressing some of the on-building multi-sector "microcells". eNB 41048 in Park Slope was upgraded with B41/B71 (I think you mapped this @T-MoblieUser207)

After I mapped the splits for this tower, I left them alone as I'm not 100% sure what is going on here. I did make a note to pass by there again for pics, but I'll await the pics you take @Paynefanbro.

[wispiANt]

9 hours ago, Paynefanbro said:

Was checking for permits for Sprint keep sites and noticed that Verizon eNB 84004 in Brooklyn Heights is getting C-band but using 8T8R JMA MX14FIT465-01 passive antennas instead of the Samsung Massive MIMO antennas they normally deploy according to the permits online. I remember seeing a site in Los Angeles in the Cellmapper subreddit where they did something similar.

Sprint used the Nokia Massive MIMO antennas to deploy 5G on this site so I'm not sure why Verizon chose not to follow suit. Weird.

https://a810-dobnow.nyc.gov/Publish/DocumentStage/PortalDownloadedDocuments/BROOKLYN/B00678468/I1/Supporting Documents/Landmark Approval_1dc135b1bd.pdf

Looks like C-Band was a last minute add-on. They don't provide any info about the radios besides mislabeling them as "CBRS RRH Units". 

[PedroDaGr8]

1 hour ago, wispiANt said:

Looks like C-Band was a last minute add-on. They don't provide any info about the radios besides mislabeling them as "CBRS RRH Units". 

Out here, Verizon will call them the very unhelpful name VZSUB6.

[Paynefanbro]

T-Mobile eNB 880571 is a Sprint conversion located at 40.714440769670546, -74.00645299485078

Link to landmark approval with more details here.

The permit is listed as Job# M00556584  Filing#  I1 in the DOB Public Portal just in case the link to the file breaks.

[Paynefanbro]

On 7/18/2022 at 12:22 PM, wispiANt said:

It seems T-Mobile is finally addressing some of the on-building multi-sector "microcells". eNB 41048 in Park Slope was upgraded with B41/B71 (I think you mapped this @T-MoblieUser207), and eNB 42102 in Dumbo was upgraded with B41 (at least). Unfortunately, neither of these upgrades were caught with Streetview.

They definitely upgraded the sites and there is definitely n41 present but I don't think they're using Ericsson 6449s. If they are, then they hid them on the roof away from the facade of the building. However, my best guess is that they've replaced the mini-antennas with one that's n41 capable and I just can't identify them. I think we'll need a second set of eyes to determine for sure. 

— — — — —

You can see in this photo of eNB 42012 that they definitely replaced the older antennas and put new ones up if you compare it to StreetView from 2019.  I can't tell if that middle antenna is an AIR32 or if it's something else.

Here's the traditional macro side of the site the speeds I was getting from it. I had to move a decent distance away to get out of range of mmWave but still had LoS. 

 

— — — — —

Same deal at eNB 41048. There were no visible n41 antennas. I think they replaced the mini-antennas on this one too but I could be wrong. The west-facing sector that has traditional macros has something covering them so you can't see if there's a 6449 there but the numbers don't lie. I was 100% seeing 100MHz n41 and a strong signal in FieldTestMode.

This speed test is from right in front of the site:

 

I was kinda in a rush today so I’ll pass again tomorrow to see if I can get a better view. 

[wispiANt]

18 hours ago, Paynefanbro said:

You can see in this photo of eNB 42012 that they definitely replaced the older antennas and put new ones up if you compare it to StreetView from 2019.  I can't tell if that middle antenna is an AIR32 or if it's something else.

The port layout on the AIR32 is a bit different, I'd guess that this is the CommScope VV-65A-R1. T-Mobile has been using them as a stand-in for the AIR32 or APX16 on newer deployments for B2/B66, but they've also spotted for low-profile n41 . 

[Paynefanbro]

UPDATES:

T-Mobile is definitely using a new mini-antenna for Band 41/n41. I visited eNB 41048 again this morning and took pictures of the antennas for comparison. There are at least 2 new antennas. Also ran another speed test.

Before:

 

After: 

— — — — —

Also here are some converted keep site locations confirmed:

1. T-Mobile eNB 895027/895028
   1. Location: 40.88564951832065, -73.90133384752056
      
       
2. T-Mobile eNB 875678
   1. Location: 40.745381147041456, -73.87620296763178
      
       
3. Sprint eNB 900047 | T-Mobile eNB 895079
   1. Location: 40.683859016488334, -73.87804129483136
      

[wispiANt]

8 hours ago, Paynefanbro said:

T-Mobile is definitely using a new mini-antenna for Band 41/n41. I visited eNB 41048 again this morning and took pictures of the antennas for comparison. There are at least 2 new antennas. Also ran another speed test.

Before:

 

After: 

In the same vein, it appears eNB 42184 was also just upgraded. New antennas were caught on Streetview.

Feels a bit wrong for T-Mobile to have a deployment right above a Sprint store for 15+ years but then close the store once they acquired Sprint.

Edit:

Job# M00637104 in the DOB Permit Portal, though the Landmark Approval doesn't include any useful information about the new antennas. Previous antennas in use were HBX-6513DS-VTM.

[T-MoblieUser207]

On 7/23/2022 at 1:30 PM, Paynefanbro said:

Also here are some converted keep site locations confirmed:

In addition to these, a few more updates:

1. Sprint eNB 5843 added, via the 312-250 map
2. The keep site at the corner of Smith Street and 5th Street in Brooklyn has an eNB number now, 6856. 
3. Sprint eNB 6755 added, location unknown.
4. Sprint eNB 6300, via the 312-250 map
5. Sprint eNB 6269, location unknown, via the 312-250 map. I know I mapped this, but I'm a little skeptical as I wasn't looking at my phone to see it.
6. Sprint eNB 6290 added, via the 312-250 map, location unknown.

T-Mobile eNB 45016 has Dish co-located on it now, but I also recently mapped 3 new eNBs near it, 894983/5/6. Either those eNBs replace 45016 and the split that are mapped, or T-Mobile converted a very, very close by Sprint site, but I'm leaning towards the former, as it was done on a Bronx site before.

 

Edit:
A friend of mine was able to clock 180 up on T-Mobile eNB 41047. They did it on an iPhone, so I would assume the mmWave on the site has been turned off, since they were close enough to be in range of it.

 

With all the development going on around the Barclays Center, I am expecting new sites to go up, and Verizon has done it with eNB 84403.

Edited July 25, 2022 by T-MoblieUser207
180 up n41 test and new Verizon eNB

[Paynefanbro]

34 minutes ago, T-MoblieUser207 said:

With all the development going on around the Barclays Center, I am expecting new sites to go up, and Verizon has done it with eNB 84403.

That’s one thing I’ll always commend Verizon for. They’re very quick to add new sites in areas that are rapidly developing. T-Mobile historically hasn’t been as proactive however I have seen across the river in North Jersey that T-Mobile has been doing a bunch of new builds in the past year. Hopefully that means they’ll start doing the same here in the city. 
 

I feel like for now though T-Mobile is focused on upgrading all of the Sprint keep sites and after those are integrated they’ll see about new builds where necessary. (fingers crossed)

[AirlineFlyer]

This may take years to actually result in anything, but we can expect to see the carrier have access to MTA right of way to install antennas in the near future. They're going to be expanding the Transit Wireless network into the tunnels, but the contract also have a provision to build out carrier coverage on MTA ROW. So think something like antennas mounted on above ground structures, or monopoles on ground level sections. We shall see!

 

[mirskyc]

On 7/25/2022 at 10:52 AM, AirlineFlyer said:

This may take years to actually result in anything, but we can expect to see the carrier have access to MTA right of way to install antennas in the near future. They're going to be expanding the Transit Wireless network into the tunnels, but the contract also have a provision to build out carrier coverage on MTA ROW. So think something like antennas mounted on above ground structures, or monopoles on ground level sections. We shall see!

 

This can't come soon enough to Queensboro Plaza. Weather Sprint or T-mobile service has always been lacking in this area. On Sprint 3xCA B41 was also so slow as well as 100mhz of N41 now on T-Mobile  

[AirlineFlyer]

One of those awful new Link5G towers is located at East Broadway and Rutgers in Manhattan, directly underneeth T-Mobile eNB 47000...a site that even has mmWave lol

 

 

Edited July 27, 2022 by AirlineFlyer

[Paynefanbro]

With regard to that specific tweet, as someone who spent years living in a city that had trolleys and trolley buses, in my opinion overhead catenaries are a lot uglier and disruptive than those Link5Gs. That said, I think it would've made more sense to wire up existing street lights with free WiFi using the existing approved design for small cell as opposed to these. 

None of them are broadcasting anything besides WiFi anyway and the carriers have so many deals with franchisees that these Links are gonna be an afterthought for them.

— — — — —

I have been spotting Altec trucks working on light poles all throughout Crown Heights recently. They even lifted up a light pole a few doors down from my house and worked on it a few weeks ago. There aren't any franchisee requests on my block at all so maybe they're just running dark fiber for future use.

[AirlineFlyer]

8 minutes ago, Paynefanbro said:

 

None of them are broadcasting anything besides WiFi anyway and the carriers have so many deals with franchisees that these Links are gonna be an afterthought for them.

This is what bugs me. Link is going to be installing these giant things regardless of whether or not any carrier is interested. I'm betting many of them, probably a majority, will never have any carrier equipment installed at any point and we'll just be stuck with them forever.

[wispiANt]

SA n41 (as the PCC) went live on my home site overnight.

[PedroDaGr8]

16 minutes ago, wispiANt said:

SA n41 (as the PCC) went live on my home site overnight.

Glad to see it is rolling out to other cities. It went live in the PNW a few days ago. 

From some testing I did yesterday, setting my phone to "NR SA Only" it has equal or slightly higher priority than n71. Most towers chose to put me on n41-SA unless the signal got bad enough that it would switch me to n71. 

[Paynefanbro]

Seems like preparation for a nationwide VoNR launch.

[T-MoblieUser207]

The keep site map got a few more updates:

New:

1. Sprint eNB 253661, location unknown
2. Sprint eNB 15848, location unknown
3. Sprint eNB 6295, location unknown
4. Sprint eNB 6726, location unknown

Updated:

1. Sprint eNB 6269, location found

 

[AirlineFlyer]

A legacy Sprint site inside the LIU Brooklyn campus in Downtown Brooklyn has been dismantled in the past month or so. T-Mobile has its own site on the campus and a large building was built directly in front of the Sprint antennas so no real loss here. It was never mapped for LTE or 5G but it may have been eNB 565 in the CDMA map.

[wispiANt]

SA n41 seems to be live on just about every site with n41 - I've tested in Bushwick, Bed Stuy, Williamsburg, downtown Brooklyn, and the LES/EV. 

Also, I stopped by the site in DUMBO yet again to map n41 and take some more pics:

Bonus: Here's a Dish deployment in the LES (550 Grand St, confirmed via DOB permit).

[Paynefanbro]

Anyone else noticing more dual eNB sites? A lot of the recent upgrades and new builds have I've spotted have Band 12/71 on the same eNB ID as Band 2/66 post-upgrade and are only getting a split for Band 41.

 

[Paynefanbro]

My fastest LTE speed test ever. LAA small cell in Crown Heights.

— — — — —

Also saw this small cell in Downtown Brooklyn. Franchisee is Crown Castle NG but I didn't get a chance to pull over and test to see what carrier it is. All of the Crown Castle NG small cells around my house are T-Mobile's. Even if this one isn't T-Mobile, it's still good news because it means that Crown Castle has finally started 5G small cell deployments in the city.

— — — — — 

Edit: Noticed earlier while in Chelsea that Sprint's PLMNs disappeared. Confirmed it's also gone in Crown Heights. Looks like the Sprint network has officially been shut down here. 😞

[AirlineFlyer]

A whole lot going on at eNB 48052 at Park and 31st. Anyone know if the extra panel above the n41 antenna is c-band?

[mirskyc]

Its CBRS. I posted this site a while back.